An Emphatic Verb Phrase in the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions

An Emphatic Verb Phrase in the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions

本文主要的研究對象是一般被視為動詞或動詞旬，在加上「有‧又」或「亡」等主動詞後所形成的「名詞句」。若就上述的句型來看，可以做出一個假設，那就是這種類型的詞句具有「強調」和（或）「對比」的功能。以此假說和實際的甲骨文加以對照，討論其是否得當，我想或可較清楚地說明由某特定的人對特定的祖先所進行的祭祀狀況。

This paper examines the construction pattern in which what is normally taken as a verb or verb phrase is nominalized by the main verb yu 有/又 or wang 亡. It suggests a hypothesis that such a construction conveys a sense of "emphasis" or entails a function of "contrast." The hypothesis is tested against actual inscriptions, and its adoption would account for some out-of-theordinary situations in which certain sacrificial activities were carried out by certain classes of people and/or directed toward certain ancestors.